1/19/14
Fuel Filters and a 400GT

We had another GTE at the shop that was running rough. On closer inspection, the accelerator pumps were clogged, so we decided to strip all three carbs to clean out all the internal passageways of debris.

A thorough carburetor cleaning is pretty straightforward although time consuming. There are several methods from ultrasonic cleaners to simple carb cleaning solutions in a 1 gallon can that can be used. With the black painted carbs of the GTE, however, care has to be taken not to soak the carb bodies too long, or else you’ll be painting them again!

Before installing the freshly cleaned carburetors I needed to find the source of the trash that was getting into the fuel system. I found a little bit of rust in the bottom of the fuel bowls inside the carbs, so I pumped some fuel through the fuel lines into a tray by using the electric fuel pump to look for more debris. It looked O.K., but my suspicions were confirmed when I pulled the rear fuel filter. The bottom of the fuel filter bowl was filled with small rust particles, and this was probably getting past the fuel filter. All it would take is one tiny piece of rust to clog up an accelerator pump nozzle, especially with the design of this particular carb. New filters were ordered.

I flushed some more fuel through the gas tank with the lower plug off the tank to make sure the inside of the tank was not filled with rust, but things ran pretty cleanly. If this problem persists, the next step would be to pull the gas tank and have it checked and cleaned.

The new owner of the 400GT that I mentioned in a post last month brought his car down to the shop. We have a list of to-dos he’s made and wants us to give it a thorough looking over. It’s interesting how this car is surprisingly similar to a 365GT/4 and yet 1/5 the price…

A fun collection of related cars we had at the shop was the first 2+2 Ferrari made, the GTE, the last carbed 2+2, the 400GT, and the middle, the 365GTC/4, and they were all dark blue! Pretty neat.

Reminder: If you have a Ferrari related project, car, or idea you’d like to explore, I’d love to talk to you. I can also help if you’re thinking of buying or selling. This website represents what I love to do, and now it’s how I make a living, so if you’d like to do something together, let me know. It all begins with an e-mail!

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